Guenther Homers, Lake Erie Comes up Short to Drop Series

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FL Lake Erie Crushers

Guenther Homers, Lake Erie Comes up Short to Drop Series

August 17, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Washington, PA - The Lake Erie Crushers (45-37) fell 3-2 to the Washington Wild Things (57-25) in the middle game of the weekend series on Saturday. With both Florence and Schaumburg losing as well, the Crushers do not lose any cushion on their 3rd place spot in the Frontier League West.

LHP Darrien Ragins was put to test early in the ballgame with the Wild Things putting a man in scoring position in the first two frames. The Lake Erie veteran was able to pitch his way out of both jams and set up the offense to get going.

The Crushers played the ol' "get 'em on, get 'em over, get 'em in" with SS Jarrod Watkins in the top of the 3rd. Watty drew a walk, stole second base, then came home to score on a RF Jake Guenther seeing-eye single up the middle. For the first time in the series the Crushers had the first run.

Ragins kept mowing down batters until the 5th inning when, on a 2-2 pitch, he delivered a high fastball that looked like it clipped the top of the zone. However, the home plate umpire called a ball, leading to a leadoff walk to CF Brandon McIlwain moments later. Then, McIlwain tried to swipe second base and looked to have slid past the bag, but he was called safe, much to the chagrin of the Crushers middle infield.

Then, 3B Caleb McNeely hit a three-run homer to give the Wild Things a 3-1 lead. It seems like questionable calls always come around to hurt Lake Erie, and they certainly did so here. You almost knew it was going to happen. That's the way much of 2024 has been.

Jake Guenther got the Crushers back within one in the top of the 6th with a solo shot, his first as a Crusher and his fourth of the 2024 season.

Darrien Ragins' day was over after six excellent innings, and he deserved much better than being on the hook for the loss. His final line: 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 7 K on 87 pitches. Ragins' seven strikeouts tied a season-high from his outing on July 20th against the Florence Y'alls. He'd be pulled for RHP Christian Scafidi, who pitched around a pair of walks to hang a scoreless 7th.

In the 8th, the Wild Things were pushing for an insurance run, but CF Jack Harris said, "Not today." Harris gunned down DH Tyreque Reed at the plate from shallow center field, his second outfield assist in a week. A few pitches later, C John Tuccillo gunned down a runner trying to steal second base. Exceptional defense kept the score 3-2 heading into the 9th.

LF Burle Dixon poked a two-out single to left field preceding men on first and second for Lake Erie, but 3B Logan Thomason got jammed on a 3-2 pitch for a flyout to end the game.

All three runs the Wild Things scored came in the 5th inning after the call at the second base bag. Ragins would suffer the loss despite pitching extremely well.

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Lake Erie Crushers 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 1

Washington Wild Things 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 X 3 4 0

The Crushers will try one more time against Washington on Sunday at 5:35pm EST before returning home to Avon.

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Frontier League Stories from August 17, 2024


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